1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shielded connector for shielding electromagnetic waves used in an electric car or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a shielded connector in which the configuration of the contact portion contacting with a partner-side shield contact portion is contrived.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 9-288669, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6 shows a male side shielded connector 45 and a female side shielded connector 46 which are similar to conventional shielded connectors disclosed by Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 8-241763.
The respective shielded connectors 45, 46 include connector housings 47, 48 made of synthetic resin, metal shells 49, 50 housed within the connector housings 47, 48, and terminals 51, 52 positioned within the metal shells 49, 50, respectively.
The connector housings 47, 48 include inner housings 53, 54 and outer housings 55, 56, respectively. The metal shells 49, 50 are disposed along the outer sides of the inner housings 53, 54, respectively. At the tip end sides of the metal shells 49, 50, slit-shaped notch portions 57, 58 are formed and further circumferentially arc-shaped projection plate portions 59, 60 are formed adjacent to the notch portions 57, 58, respectively. The projection plate portions 59, 60 protrude to the connector attachment direction through the spaces between the outer housings 55, 56 and the inner housings 53, 54, respectively.
The rear end portions of the metal shells 49, 50 are coupled to braided wires 63, 64 of shielded electric wires 61, 62, respectively. The terminals 51, 52 are coupled to the tip portions of the shielded electric wires 61, 62 through caulking process, respectively. The shielded electric wires 61, 62 are drawn to the rear sides of the connector housings 47, 48, respectively.
Both the shielded connectors 45, 46 are attached together and, simultaneously, both the metal shells 49, 50 are attached and connected together. The projection plate portion 59 of one of the metal shells, that is, the metal shell 49 covers the notch portion 58 of the other metal shell 50, and the other projection plate portion 60 is inserted into the inside of a hook piece 65 of the metal shell 49. Accordingly, the projection plate portion is prevented from being lifted and the metal shells 49, 50 are attached tightly. Further, since the terminals 51, 52 serving as conductive portions are mainly covered by the metal shells 50, 49, respectively, the terminals are shielded from electromagnetic wave.
However, the aforementioned conventional arrangement has the following problems. That is, the size of the connector itself becomes larger since the metal shells 49, 50 are housed within the connector housings 47, 48, respectively. Further, because the mounting space for the metal shells 49, 50 and the extracting direction of the electric wires or the like are restricted, there remains portions which can not be covered by the metal shells 49, 50. Further the metal shells 49, 50 are complicated in their structure and the assembling workability thereof is degraded.
In order to solve the above problems, a shielded connector in which connector housings entirely subjected to the conductive electroplating is employed in place of the metal shells has been proposed by, for example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Nos. Hei. 5-258804 and Hei. 9-8489. In such a shielded connector, the electroplated layer may be removed in the case where prying force is applied at the time of attaching the male and female connectors together and in the case where the connector housings are slid with pressure to each other in order to electrically connect the connector housings.